Saving Grace
by Willow Lark
Summary: Grace glances across the diner, at the group of girls who have just walked in. Her eyes connect with the leader's, and she gasps—it's the girl she's been seeing in her dreams. Reborn!Jason, takes place between Regret and Should Have Been (You do not have to read those first, however.)


**Goodness, it's been so long since I've ben on FFN... I've been reading a lot of fics on AO3 lately-maybe I'll end up switching there. Anyway, thanks to everyone who's reviewed in the year since I've last uploaded here. This particular fic has been sitting on my computer since last July. Enjoy!**

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The bright light of the neon sign of June's Diner illuminated the dark parking lot in front of it. Grace stared out the window at the warped reflection of the signs on the cars outside. Grace's dreadful nearsightedness made it difficult to make out any distinct shapes in the distance.

She caught sight of her own image and made a face. Short, choppy blonde hair she couldn't bother to tame, a scar on her chin from when she'd tried to eat a knife when she was three, and pale blue eyes. She had wire-framed, granny-like glasses as well, but they were set down next to her brownie fudge milkshake.

Grace sighed and turned back to the table. As per usual, her only company was her favorite book.

It was about astronomy, and talked about each of the planets in great detail. After sipping her milkshake and reluctantly putting her glasses back on, Grace thumbed through the pages until she reached her favorite section: the planet Jupiter. This part of the book was well-worn—Grace had read it so many times she could practically recite it by heart.

_Jupiter shares a name with the king of the gods in Roman mythology. Jupiter was the god of the sky, and fathered a great many heroes, whom his wife, Juno, greatly despised. _

There was a picture of the god under the paragraph. He had a beard and curly brown hair, a stern expression, and sparkling eyes.

Grace traced the image, wondering what it would be like to be the child of a god. Stressful, she imagined. She had read stories of the Greek and Roman myths before; none of them involved happily prancing through a meadow weaving flower crowns. (Well, one did, but seeing as the said prancer-and-flower-crown-maker ended up kidnapped...) As she pondered, a spark shot through Grace's finger. She flexed her hand, and glared at the picture of Jupiter as if it was all his fault.

And then, so quick Grace later swore she imagined it, the image changed. Jupiter gave her a merry smile and wink. When Grace looked again, he was back to the same way he'd always been. Grace let out a slight laugh—she must be seeing things.

"Would you like a refill, dearie?"

With a start, Grace noticed the owner-slash-head chef of the diner, June, standing above her.

"Hm?"

"Your milkshake, my little hero. On the house."

_That_ made Grace frown. June, a wonderful lady Grace considered to be a second mother, always called her that, and Grace had never known why. She didn't press, however, and smiled, handing over the empty glass. "Yes, please, June. Thank you."

The older woman nodded in satisfaction and leaned down to see what Grace was reading. "Jupiter, I see." Her tone was oddly scathing. "He's a tricky one. Never follows through with his promises." She threw her hand up in the air. "'_No_, Juno! I would _never_ have an affair. I _love _you, baby!'" She shook her head. "Such a liar. The longest he went without siring a demigod was fifty years." Her eyes gleamed. "And you know all about _that_, of course, darling Jason."

Grace made a puzzled face. "W-What? Who's—"

June's expression cleared. "Never mind. Just someone I used to know. Now," she said, tone returning to businesslike cheeriness. "How about that milkshake?"

She bustled off to the counter, and Grace put her head in her hands. Was she losing her mind?

First, whatever had happened with the book, and then June—sweet, lovely June who had taken care of her for years, was acting strange.

And to top it off, Grace had been having nightmares recently—always featuring the same person.

A girl, with flashing blue eyes (almost exactly like Jupiter in her book, she realized) and black hair. Sometimes she appeared as a teen, and other times as a young girl around the age of eight or nine. Never in between. When she appeared older, she always wore a silver circlet across her brow.

"_Who are you? What are you doing_?" Grace had often cried to the girl, but she never answered. It was almost like Grace was reliving memories as she slept, except that she had never seen this girl before in her life, and the scenarios presented in her sleep were also totally unfamiliar. Lightning crackling, monsters, battles...it was all so _weird_.

Grace lifted her head and rubbed her temples, groaning. The tinkling bell that signaled the opening front door rang, and she winced. Her headache was only worsening by the minute.

Head fuzzy and feeling stuffed full of cotton, Grace vaguely wondered when June would be back with her chocolate milkshake. She glanced across the diner, towards the counter, at the group of girls who had just walked in. They all wore parkas, and had the look of well-trained and lithe fighters. They were crowding around the counter, jostling for room.

One of them, clearly the leader of the group, gave the other girls a sharp reprimand and stepped back to survey the area. Grace's eyes connected with the leader's, and she gasped—it was the girl she'd seen in her dreams.

The girl paid her no mind, however, immediately turning her attention to June, who had just come out of the kitchen, carrying the milkshake—_yes!_ She and June glared at each other for a moment, then began a hushed conversation, which accumulated with the girl pounding her fist on the counter, shouting something about, "You've messed up my life countless times! The least you can do is give us some damn ambrosia!" Grace frowned. What the heck was ambrosia? Wasn't that something Greek?

June gave her a stony look. But nevertheless, she reached under the marble counter and pulled out a little baggie filled with what looked like little sugar cubes.

The girl snatched it and shot back a witty retort along the lines of, "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

At this point, Grace decided to get up and get ready to interfere if necessary. What right did this girl have to come in and antagonize June? She got up and walked to the counter.

"Hey, June. I'll take my milkshake now, thanks."

June smiled tersely and handed her the glass. Her eyes twinkled maliciously, and Grace felt an uneasy sensation pool in her stomach. The girl from her dreams glanced over at her, and their eyes connected again.

Another jolt of pain flashed through Grace's forehead. She staggered back, clutching the milkshake glass. It was cold under her fingers; the condensation forming across it made it slippery.

Grace knew this girl, she was sure of it. Not only in her mind—from real life as well. But for the life of her, Grace _just couldn't _remember. It was as if the memory was lost in time, buried deep somewhere far away that she couldn't reach.

June chuckled. "My, my, my. This is unexpected." She winked conspiratorially and walked away.

"Th-Thank you for the milkshake, June," Grace called weakly. She sipped the chocolate bliss and went back to collapse in her booth, too overwhelmed to do much of anything else at the moment.

The next time Grace looked up, the mysterious group of girls was gone.

And that was that. Grace never saw them again. In time, she forgot about them, too. Her mind grew fuzzy every time she tried to think about that event, so eventually she just stopped trying to remember.

Grace lived to the ripe old age of ninety-seven. She married the love of her life at age twenty-five. In her lifetime, she was greeted by three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. She dedicated her life to working with young people whose home lives were far from perfect, and helped each of them find a place in the world.

When she died, she was told about her previous life, and how in that one she'd decided to be reborn three times to try to reach the Isles of the Blest.

So Grace was reborn once more.

But in her next life, however, her actions didn't _quite_ get her to Elysium.

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**Yeeah... oof. Please review!**

**Please review!**

**~Lark**


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